


Sweet Desserts in the Desert

by Darkhymns



Series: Colloyd Week 2020 [3]
Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Birthday Presents, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Post-Canon, Undressing, despite the tags this is still very g-rated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:15:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24669754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkhymns/pseuds/Darkhymns
Summary: Takes place after Dawn of the New World. Lloyd and Colette are back on their journey for the Exspheres, but Lloyd still worries about how he left things between them last time. So worried that he hadn't remembered at all that it was his birthday.
Relationships: Colette Brunel/Lloyd Irving
Series: Colloyd Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1780570
Comments: 7
Kudos: 7





	Sweet Desserts in the Desert

**Author's Note:**

> For Colloyd Week, day 3: birthday present! More excuses to write them cutely and that's it.

In all honesty, Lloyd had never really gotten used to the desert.

“Ugh, I was just sweating buckets not even an hour ago,” Lloyd was muttering to himself. Well, not exactly to himself. Noishe was with him, both hero and dog seated just outside of the sole inn of Triet. There was still the taste of sand on his tongue from earlier, but now the air was chilly, the night sky so clear with its smattering of stars. The wind blew slightly, along the faint rustling leaves from the scarce palm trees that dotted the streets.

He quickly went to put on his jacket which had been damped with sweat before, watching the clear night sky above him. Few people were outside, the hour getting late, and probably smart enough to know when to go indoors. But he couldn’t do that, not just yet anyway.

“Wish I had fur like you…” he muttered, still somewhat fumbling with his jacket.

Noishe’s ears perked at the statement, blowing soft mist in the air with each of his pants. But all that left his note was a confused whine.

“Ah, forget it.” Lloyd just half-buttoned his jacket before laying his hands on the ground leaning back. “Colette said she was just going to a shop…Wonder what’s taking so long.”

Finally back on their journey together, he and Colette had decided to traverse familiar places. It was also convenient, Triet only a short week’s travel from Iselia. Still, this desert town wasn’t exactly one of his favorite pitstops. Hot days and cold nights – the change was always sudden, and when Triet had gotten its first taste of snow after the world regeneration, it didn’t help matters. And Lloyd swore that it was chillier than usual now… even though the mana should have been stable. Maybe he was just sensitive to the cold.

Noishe saw his shivering state and decided to help Lloyd by shuffling against him, tail wagging excitedly. But he was also a Very Big dog, putting more of his weight on Lloyd than he probably meant to.

“Noishe! Don’t just sit on my lap without warning..” Lloyd grumbled. But only a little bit, since he was fighting to get rid of the fur that was now in his mouth. “And you’re all dusty with sand too!”

Another whine from Noishe, paired with shining black eyes as he looked at Lloyd.

“Oh, fine… I missed you too,” he said with a sigh, patting behind the big pointed ears. It had been nearly a year since he had just left Noishe at Dirk’s without warning. Since he had left everyone… and yet he and Colette were picking up right where they left off with the Exspheres. Just like that.

But things felt different, like the nights in Triet. Lloyd threaded his fingers through the comforting fur, growing silent. _He_ felt different. Could he accept that about himself? Could Colette? And…where was she? _Maybe she realized that-_

“Lloyd!” Her voice broke through the hazy veil that had been clouding his head. He blinked. “Lloyd! Happy birthday!”

He blinked again. _Huh?_ Another blink… _It’s my birthday?!_

Lloyd had to shove Noishe off him, just so he could finally see past the dog and his sea of green and white fur. In front of him was Colette, smiling so widely as she held something in her hands. In fact, it was so big that it seemed to almost cover up her arms completely.

“Whoa! You got me a cake?” Lloyd said so loudly, he was sure he must have woken up a few people from their homes. But he was too busy staring. Colette got him a cake! With frosting and everything!

“Yep! Sorry, I know it’s probably not as nice as the cakes they have in Meltokio…but they have a really cute bakery here. It’s just right next to that hole I made!” She sounded so proud, standing on her tiptoes as she held out the big confectionary treat. “I remember, because when I first came here, I wanted to see all of their desserts. And uh, that’s when I tripped.”

“Oh,” Lloyd said, then grinned along with her. “I guess I must have missed it last time. That’s cool they still keep it up there!” Though he wondered if a desert bakery made sense to him. What if all their desserts had sand in it? Desert…dessert…maybe there was a connection…

But the look on Colette’s face was so happy though, happy with him – and he tried to brush away that weird nagging feeling as to why she would, after all that he did. Luckily, the cake she held was a good distraction. It had swirls of chocolate frosting, topped with black cherries, and it even had all the candles for his age! It looked kind of a lot…How old was he again?

“Do you wanna have a slice?” she asked him, and _of course_ he did!

“Yeah definitely! And no, Noishe, you’re not having any!” Lloyd said immediately, knowing the whines would follow, but he knew that cake just wasn’t good for dogs!

Then as Colette got closer with the cake, he noticed something different. “Is that my face on it?”

This was when Colette started to look a bit less confident. “Um, yeah. Hehe… well, the thing is, they don’t really have any current pictures of you…And I tried my best to describe you! But they still had that wanted poster hanging around, and I think people around here have grown fond of it…And…it’s kinda cute if you think about-”

“Colette, watch your step!”

But it was too late. There had been a stray pebble on the path, and that was more than enough to make Colette ultimately tumble.

“Whoops!”

Maybe it was fate that Lloyd was about to be bombarded with the cake that was decorated with a warped version of his face on it. Not like he had time to move out of the way, Colette only just a few steps in front of him. So that leering grin of his fell right over his own dumbfounded stare, in all of its chocolatey glory, the unlighted candles showering him as they collapsed to the sand-covered ground.

At least it tasted good.

* * *

Not only was he covered with sand from earlier as they hiked to Triet, along with his own sweat that was chilled to his skin from the coming of night – but he had chocolate frosting on his hair to top it all off.

“I’m so, so _so_ sorry, Lloyd!” Colette had been apologizing, sounding like she was on the verge of tears as she guided him inside the inn. Noishe had been told to go back to the stables (Lloyd could tell because of all the high-pitched whining), Colette making sure he didn’t get a lick of any of the leftover cake that splattered to the ground. “I’ll clean it up for you right away!”

“Colette, you don’t need to, it’s okay!” Lloyd said as he looked to her. Or, well, he tried to. The cake was all over his face, and it was impeding his sight just a bit. “Just dump some water on my head and I’ll be fine!”

Colette didn’t say anything, but he guessed she shook her head to his suggestion since she was still leading him through the inn. He thought he heard a questioning noise from someone – probably the innkeeper, wondering why he had cake all over his face – but nothing else except for a door opening.

“Uh, Colette, where are you taking me?”

“We have to clean you up! There’s a bathroom down here. Let me help.”

This made him pause for a moment. “Uh. A what now.”

At some point, she let him go, but saw the shape of her (in his chocolate vision) move in front, retrieving a nearby bucket to dump into something big that stood within the middle of the room.

“Let me just fill this up! Then I’ll work on those buttons later…”

Triet’s bathroom was basically just a giant washtub, filled with now-tepid water from a nearby well. Not nearly as fancy as anything from Meltokio’s inns with their running water, or as unique like the warm hot springs. It was just a washtub, one familiar to Lloyd when he would have to fill his own from the river back home. And…when they had to use washtubs to cross the ocean a few times…

Lloyd saw all this once he got to wash his face a little from one bucket, his eyes and cheeks now clear of chocolate, though he couldn’t say the same for his hair. Colette was close, already helping him undress which he was just letting happen despite his weak protests. “I can bathe myself, Colette…” Still, the suspenders were already slipping off his shoulders, with barely a second to spare.

“Hm? Oh! Sorry, too fast?” She giggled, fingers lingering over his sleeves as she traced over the multitudes of silver clasps. “It’s okay, Lloyd. I know how to take this off! You don’t need to worry.”

“That’s not what I… Wait, how do you know?” It was not a statement from Colette that he had been prepared for. Still, he could only watch in fascination as she went about the landscape of his jacket, finally unclasping it with careful and thoughtful motions.

“Just trying to work out this sleeve button here…Oh, and I’ve had some practice with the one you gave me! It’s been really useful!”

“You still kept that ratty old thing?” he asked, genuinely surprised. He felt the sweaty jacket slip off him then, watching as Colette carefully folded it to lay on a nearby stool. _Huh, she really had been fast with those buttons…_

“Yeah of course! Okay, so now these belts…”

“I-! I think I got it, don’t worry!”

“Hm?” Colette looked up at him curiously, one hand gripping one of his lower belts. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, just…” His heart was beating fast, and if it weren’t for the remaining pieces of cake still in his hair, maybe he could have been smoother about this whole situation a little bit. “Are you like…actually okay with doing this?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She tilted her head at him, her hair falling across her left shoulder. “You’ve stripped in front of me before, remember? Back at Dirk’s when you gave me your jacket!”

“But I wasn’t about to take a bath in front of you!”

“Hm, I guess so.” Then another smile. “It’s okay, Lloyd. I don’t mind at all!”

He heard the sharp clacks of his belts unbuckling as she got rid of them, one of them falling to the floor, his swords already having been put away earlier. “But…you’re acting like I can’t do this myself! I’m not a little kid… I’m… I’m 20 years old now!” He just remembered! “Yeah, I’m 20! And I can take baths by myself!” Okay, that sounded a little weird but it was true!

“Oh, I know, hehe. I just wanted to do this for you.” She pulled down his pants then, his boxers were now in view, their color dark and unassuming – a real contrast to all the red he usually wore. “And I need to make it up for ruining your birthday…”

“Huh?” He blinked. “But you didn’t ruin anything…”

“I dropped your cake like a klutz. It was my fault.” She said this while tracing the hem of his shirt, then stared hard at it. “Oh! Forgot about this too.” With that, she pulled the shirt over his head, getting it half-way stuck on his face.

“Colette, none of that is your fau-mmfhgg!” Muffled by the shirt over his mouth, both struggled a bit with it, Colette repeating her apologies over and over until he could finally be free from the fabric.

“Ahhh sorry, sorry, sorry!”

“S-stop apologizing! You have nothing be sorry for!” His head popped out, disheveling both hair and chocolate frosting everywhere. His head was still half-cake at this point. “It’s all my fault to begin with!”

That made Colette pause, clutching Lloyd’s black undershirt in her hands. It was still half-splattered in chocolate frosting, some of it from his hair when he had pulled it. “Lloyd?”

Well, that wasn’t a thing he meant to say out loud.

“Uh..n-nothing. Anyway, that washtub, right?” With sudden reflexes, Lloyd sprinted for the tub, grabbing the very edge of its wooden rim and leaping over it with all the energy he could muster! “Here I goooo!”

“Lloyd! You’re still wearing your boxers!”

Ah crap, he was.

Too late, for he had already splashed right into the washtub, getting lukewarm water all over the floor. He sunk like a rock inside it before breaking his head through the surface, feeling refreshed instantly. His hair must have been rid of the chocolate by now!

“It can be like I’m swimming then!” he explained to Colette with a thumbs-up. “You need to wear clothes to swim!”

“You can’t swim in a washtub,” Colette said, then made a soft hum. “Or can you? I’ve never tried it.”

“Well, if we can row washtubs, I don’t see why you can’t swim in them,” he said in all sincerity.

“Huh, you’re right! Sounds like it’s fun too.” Colette turned away and Lloyd felt a bit relieved, thinking she was about to leave. Then maybe he could get rid of these now soaked boxers too…

…And then Colette instantly came back with soap in hand. “Let’s get you washed up then!”

“H-Hey!” But Colette was also really fast? She was already next to him, rubbing soap suds into his hair, the water splashing around his ears. “Colette!”

“Oh? Did I get soap in your eye?” She was already sitting on a stool right next to the washtub so that she could continue to do her task with more comfort.

“No…” Lloyd was saying, remembering he had a complaint…Or something like it… But Colette’s hands were rubbing his head softly. So soft. Maybe it was something about the soap that made him relax a bit more, laying his head against the edge of the washtub, leaning into her hands. “Just…can wash myself…”

“I know you can,” Colette said, and her tone was more serious than before. Lloyd picked up on it, but the feel of her hands on him got him so relaxed all the sudden. He felt the soap suds sink against his hair, making him sigh pleasantly. This did feel really nice. “I just wanted to do this for you.”

“Hm…” He could only say and nodded. And maybe it was also just what the earlier part of the day brought with it – the water washing away all of his dried sweat, sweeping away the sand that had gotten stuck to his hands or caught in his fingernails, and even soaking up the chocolate from Colette’s birthday cake for him…It really was so nice.

“And I’ve had a lot of practice from washing up Noishe too! Your hair is just like his fur!”

Okay, that comparison may have gotten him out of the dreamy state he had been in, at least for a few seconds. “I-It’s not… And Noishe isn’t good at taking baths! He’d get water everywhere.”

Colette pointedly looked around the room, where water puddles formed all around the floor from Lloyd’s jump. “Hmm…”

“…That doesn’t count...” he pouted, leaning back into her hands. “I’m being good now, aren’t I?”

“Hehe, yeah. See? I told you I could help you with this.”

Another lazy nod, Lloyd already beginning to slip into that relaxed state, his body going a bit limp, half-floating in the water. “Yeah…You’re…good to me…” he said.

Her hands paused in his hair before going back to their circular motions, fingers and soap suds working together to unbind all the stress from him. A part of him knew he had said something too dumb and weird, but the other part of him was, _‘This feels nice, can I fall asleep now?’_ Although maybe falling asleep in a washtub wasn’t a good idea…

“Hey, Lloyd? Can I tell you something?”

“Mmwha?” He blinked a few times. Jeez, he really _had_ been about to fall asleep. “Yeah…you can tell me…” Though hopefully she’d keep washing his hair like that as she did so.

“I’m just happy I get to be with you again.” He heard the smile through her voice. “I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to for a while.”

Lloyd heard her words like he was in a dream, cocooned in warmth, floating within it. But, he needed to do something. He tried sitting up, all while still laying his head in her hands. “I meant…to come back…”

He didn’t hear her respond, still washing his hair. She was probably getting her clothes wet by doing this. _My fault_ , he thought again, but kept himself from speaking too much. She most likely already thought he was being weird about this.

“You know…I tried to make you something like you did for me,” she said, speaking a little more clearly. “But I could never learn how to. I can’t make as beautiful things like you can. I should have tried to last year but, well, you were gone, so…”

His mind paused. _The necklace._ He turned to her. “You still have it?”

“Hm? Oh of course I do! I always have it with me.” Colette took away one hand to press against her neck. It had been hidden by her overcoat, but there it was, the light from the room reflecting off the links of the necklace’s chain. “See?”

“You dork, you’re getting soap all over yourself!”

“Ah!” Colette pulled her hand away, but some soap suds had fallen over her cheeks. “Sorry!”

But he laughed, somehow feeling…surprised. _She really kept it._ After he had just suddenly left her in the middle of their journey, she still had it with her.

He didn’t know what else to say at first, still seated within that washtub, the water more tepid, and the soap drying up against his ears. “I didn’t give you a gift for last year either.”

Colette paused as well, as if contemplating her next words carefully. One hand was still near him, gentle against his hair. “Your gift to me was staying safe. And…this is silly, but, I felt as long as I still had this, that I knew you would be safe.” He felt her soft airy giggle against his neck. She was still close to him. “It does sound silly, doesn’t it?”

Without thinking, Lloyd reached for her hand, covered in those suds, some of it trailing down his hand to drip into the water.

“Ah, careful! You’re gonna get it in your eye for sure if-”

He leaned up from the water to kiss her then, the feel of her lips tingling his nerves, warmth bursting through his chest like a small campfire in the cold night. The water drops echoed all around him heightened by the closeness of the room and the washtub.

Colette didn’t flinch or pull away, but leaned into him, any hint of shyness melting away. In her nearness, he caught even more glimpses of her necklace, its shine so bright.

When he pulled away, he meant to say something meaningful to her, as he did when they had gone back to Flanoir and he finally told her he loved her…

…Instead, he snickered. “Oh…uh, got some more soap on you.”

Colette blinked. Looked like she hadn’t expected that response either. “Oh? On my face?” And with her soapy hand, she reached to touch her cheeks, her nose, effectively getting it everywhere.

“Well, now you do! I meant your hair.” Lloyd grinned, reaching up with his other hand to get rid of those soapy bubbles caught onto the fine golden strands. But with the dripping water on him, he just succeeded in getting even more on her, and then just soaking her hair… but he wouldn’t give up! “Hold on, I got it!”

“Ahhh, Lloyd! That’s way too much!” She grinned, reaching for his hands again, clasping it in his own, and then leaned down to steal a kiss from him, the way he did with her… then felt her hands slip from his to rush through his own hair. It was like she was molding it with the strength of the soap.“There!”

“Heeey, what did you do to my hair?” He peeked a glimpse of himself in the water, and while the reflection was a bit hazy, he saw how she had used the soap to pull at his hair from the front, curving it like some weird pompadour.

“Now you match better with your picture!” Colette said with a laugh. “It looks cute!”

“Nooo, I don’t look cute!” Lloyd whined, but with a mischievous grin, he reached for her hair too, no longer being careful anymore. “You do!”

“There’s water getting everywhere-! Whoops!”

Lloyd probably should have expected that Colette would trip again, but he was still unsure how she was able to just tip over at this angle, falling right against him in the washtub, effectively overflowing the tub with both of them in it.

Her falls really were little acts of miracles.

“Well, at least you can get your bath too,” Lloyd said, not minding it at all as she floated on top of him, arms wrapped around her waist. “Since you’re already soaped up and everything.”

“But my clothes are all soaked,” she complained.

This only made Lloyd grin, forgetting all his previous worries and nervousness. Everything felt so natural – why did he think they couldn’t go back to how they were before? “I can help with that.”

“Ahh, that’s silly though..”

“It’ll be a fun birthday present!”

“Lloyd!” but she was laughing too and maybe they did a lot more swimming than bathing in the end anyway.

But it really had been a good birthday present all around.


End file.
